The ⚔️War Was Lost on The Gladden Fields

[Eledhwen]

Unfinished Tales, Disaster of the Gladden Fields, note 20:

"Yet many have thought that the ferocity and determination of their assault on Isildur was in part due to the Ring. It was little more than two years since it had left his hand, and though it was swiftly cooling it was still heavy with his evil will, and seeking all means to return to its lord (as it did again when he recovered and was re-housed). So, it is thought, although they did not understand it the Orc-chiefs were filled with a fierce desire to destroy the Dunedain and capture their leader. Nonetheless it proved in the event that the War of the Ring was lost at the Disaster of the Gladden Fields."

QUESTION: Who are the losers referred to in this quote? Is it Sauron's forces, because the Orcs failed to capture the Ring and return it to the Ringwraiths, thus ensuring Sauron's supremacy; or is it the Alliance, whose failure to destroy the Ring resulted in its loss and Sauron's subsequent revival (even though they were the ultimate victors)?

 

[Elendil3119]

From the wording of that paragraph, I would say that it was the forces of Sauron that were the losers that fateful day.

........Nonetheless....

Tolkien begins the paragraph by describing the power of the Ring and the motivation it gave the orcs. The main subject of the paragraph is the orcs, not the Dunedain, so I would say that the last sentence is referring to the forces of Sauron. I believe that Tolkien was referring to the War of the Ring as a whole, and that this failure of the orcs ultimately was the ruin of Sauron.

 

[Arvedui]

I agree with Elendil3119.
The War of the Ring is the war fought in The Lord of the Rings, it is even the name of book 5. Therefore it should be pretty obvious that when Tolkien writes something about loosing the War of the Ring, then that loss must be Sauron's.